-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
A Novel
by Jennie Fields
For fans of The Paris Wife, a sparkling glimpse into the life of Edith Wharton and the scandalous love affair that threatened her closest friendship.
They say behind every great man is a woman. Behind Edith Wharton, there was Anna Bahlmann - her governess turned literary secretary, and her mothering, nurturing friend.
When at the age of forty-five, Edith falls passionately in love with a dashing younger journalist, Morton Fullerton, and is at last opened to the world of the sensual, it threatens everything certain in her life but especially her abiding friendship with Anna. As Edith's marriage crumbles and Anna's disapproval threatens to shatter their lifelong bond, the women must face the fragility at the heart of all friendships.
Told through the points of view of both women, The Age of Desire takes us on a vivid journey through Wharton's early Gilded Age world: Paris with its glamorous literary salons and dark secret cafés, the Whartons' elegant house in Lenox, Massachusetts, and Henry James's manse in Rye, England.
Edith's real letters and intimate diary entries are woven throughout the book. The Age of Desire brings to life one of literature's most beloved writers, whose own story was as complex and nuanced as that of any of the heroines she created.
"The book's only flaw is the choice of present tense... Still, Fields's love and respect for all her characters and her care in telling their stories shines through." - Publishers Weekly
"While the novel concentrates more on the emotional than the intellectual sphere, it sheds welcome light on the little-known private life of a famous woman and her closest relationships in early-twentieth-century Europe and America." - Booklist
"Readers may find it hard to sympathize with the perpetually self-obsessed Edith, whose callousness toward her ailing husband is particularly difficult to excuse, but the novel should nonetheless appeal to those who enjoyed Paula McLain's The Paris Wife or other stories focusing on the stormy romantic lives of creative people from past eras." - Library Journal
This information about The Age of Desire was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jennie Fields received an MA in creative writing from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop and is the author of the novels Lily Beach, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, and The Middle Ages. An Illinois native, she spent twenty-five years as an advertising creative director in New York and currently lives with her husband in Nashville, Tennessee. Find her online at www.jenniefields.com.
If you liked The Age of Desire, try these:
by Anna Funder
Published 2025
This is the story of the marriage behind some of the most famous literary works of the 20th century - and a probing consideration of what it means to be a wife and a writer in the modern world.
The Women of Chateau Lafayette
by Stephanie Dray
Published 2022
An epic saga from New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray based on the true story of an extraordinary castle in the heart of France and the remarkable women bound by its legacy.
by Kate Bolick
Published 2016
A bold, original, moving book that will inspire fanatical devotion and ignite debate.
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
